Genomic insights into the evolutionary and demographic histories of the extinct Hoopoe Starling (Fregilupus varius)

Abstract

The Hoopoe Starling Fregilupus varius is an extinct species of the Sturnidae that was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The species rapidly disappeared in the middle of the 19th century, primarily because of overexploitation by humans. We generated an approximately 11× coverage genome to reconstruct the demographic history of the Hoopoe Starling and compared these results with the demographic histories of other starlings and myna species. Our analyses confirmed the close affinities of the Hoopoe Starling with the genera Sturnia, Leucopsar and Sturnornis, and revealed that it went through a strong population bottleneck during its evolutionary history, but that its effective population size was not particularly low when compared with other extinct or critically endangered species of birds.